Bangkok Postr(11/7/99)

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

Junta silent on offer of talks 

Burma's ruling military has yat to respond to an offer by the main
opposition party to begin a law-level dialogue, an opposition leader said.

Tin Oo,vice chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD),said the
military had said talks between the ruling State Peace and Development
Council and the opposition should start at a law level.

"We agree to that, but they haven't given us ny response yet," he said in
an interview. The govermment has insisted as a precondition to talks that
the opposition renounce a committee it established torepresent a parliament
elected in Burma's last election. The NLD won the poll,but the military
ignored the result.

Asked if the committee would be dissolved to pave the way for dialogue, Mr
Tin Oo said:"No,it was formed to work for dialogue, so we can't dissolve it."

He also said thatNLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi would have to be included once
talks reached a summit level.

The generals have long refused to talk with Ms Suu Kyi , the 1991 Nobel
Peace laureate who has been their most formidable opponent since emerging
as a dissident leader at the height of a pro-democracy uprising crushed by
troops in 1988.

Mr Tin Oo said the political situation remained in a stalemate but an
event-ual dialogue involving the government, the opposition and ethnic
minority groups was inevitable."There willbe a dialogue--nobody can avoid
it," he said."It is the solution.

"We  are Very optimistic about getting back our(democratic) legitimacy with
the coming of the 21st century; we are not just waiting idly. The people
are also very much in need of a great change."

Mr Tin Oo said the visit By a fact-finding delegation from the European
Union last week was a positive step.
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